When it comes to an economic recession, the question is "when," not "if." Howard Tullman, in his article for Inc., describes the four Rs—relationships, reassurance, raising the bar, and retention—as a way to prepare for an economic downturn. I've been thinking about four other R words as guideposts for the hunkering down that the guys and gals who want to stick around should start doing right about now. In fact, if you haven't already started trimming the sails, cutting incremental expenses, and working on protecting your current customer base, you may find that you're too late to make all the necessary adjustments without cutting a lot closer to the bone than you'd like. Howard Tullman for Inc.Read the article here. Kris talks about the qu…

Strategic content marketing can be an asset to the marketing and sales aspects of your business. Not only can you help educate prospects about why they need your services, but also about why they need services specifically from you. This non-promotional aspect of content marketing can cause sales teams to overlook it. If a buyer indicates they’re interested in your product or service, of course a sales rep is going to try to sell them. They might think that content marketing principles can’t apply if they’re ready to put their product and services front and center.  But, that’s not how we should think about content marketing, which is defined as distributing valuable and consistent content to a defined audience to drive a profitab…

Tim Fahndrich, CEO and Founder of Third River Marketing and the new small business marketing platform, WhirLocal.io, is featured in the September 2019 edition of Salem Business Journal: “Third River Marketing’s New Neighborhood Marketing Platform Kicks Off Local Movement.” From the article: WhirLocal is an automated, easy-to-use, all-in-one neighborhood marketing platform that combines powerful marketing tools, simple action plans, and recommendations from other local businesses. The main purpose is to help businesses and organizations conquer online marketing and get more of their ideal customers, clients, or donors. Salem Business Journal is a [publication that] “functions as a strong independent local voice. Show…

Tim Fahndrich, CEO and Founder of Third River Marketing and the new small business marketing platform, WhirLocal.io, is featured in the September 2019 edition of Salem Business Journal: "Third River Marketing's New Neighborhood Marketing Platform Kicks Off Local Movement." From the article: WhirLocal is an automated, easy-to-use, all-in-one neighborhood marketing platform that combines powerful marketing tools, simple action plans, and recommendations from other local businesses. The main purpose is to help businesses and organizations conquer online marketing and get more of their ideal customers, clients, or donors. Salem Business Journal is a [publication that] "functions as a strong independent local voice. Showcasing the business peopl…

When it comes to owning a business, there are a lot of little things you might not have expected. The sheer amount of passwords you need for online accounts is often one of them. Although you probably imagine a hacker as a hooded, geeky man sat behind a laptop breaking into accounts by guessing people’s favorite movies and lucky numbers, surprisingly, that’s not how it works. In fact, hackers specifically target vulnerable sites and access its customer database where they can easily find your details. But, we’re not here to scare you (that much), we’ve produced a guide on how to securely store and remember all your passwords.But, we don’t have tips to actually make your brain to memorize each and every one of your passwords. We’re talking a…

This post was first published on wfmchealth.org. September is World Alzheimer’s Month, which is an annual international effort to raise awareness and knowledge about dementia. By fighting the stigma against dementia and having proactive conversations, we can better understand and care for the people in our lives who have Alzheimer’s. What is Alzheimer’s? Alzheimer’s is a brain disease that slowly affects memory, thinking, problem solving, spatial awareness, and judgement skills to the point of disrupting or changing a person’s daily life. While there are often age-related memory and mood changes that come with getting older, several recurring or ongoing symptoms could warn about the onset of Alzheimer’s. If you notice these symptoms coming…

This post was first published on wfmchealth.org. Living with obesity can sometimes be difficult, but it can be uniquely hard for children. As the childhood obesity rate continues to rise in the United States, more children will not only be affected by possible health issues, but also the negative social stigma around weight. This is why it’s increasingly important to focus on and encourage healthy habits for the whole family. What is obesity? Childhood obesity is often measured by using percentiles according to a child’s age and body mass index (BMI). However, weight and childhood obesity are much more complicated than just being a result of unhealthy eating and little exercise, so your child’s weight status and diagnosis should ultimately…

When you sell or offer a complex service or product, it is a good idea to help educate your prospects when they need your particular skills or expertise. Content marketing can help educate them and bring value to the buying journey. Content is the bridge that leads people from the shadows and into enlightenment. Now, it doesn’t stop there. If that was all content marketing was good for, businesses wouldn’t invest thousands of dollars into creating and optimizing powerful content strategies. From a business perspective, the benefit of content marketing – i.e. the benefit of educating people – is rooted in the trust factor. When you take the time to educate someone without directly asking for something in return, the person on the other…

As the leaves change outside and the weather gets cooler, there is a renewed sense of motivation. New seasons in life and in business can be exciting - but are you prepared to take your business to the next level? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3XIcbwqB7U If you’d like to discuss a marketing plan to take your business to the next level, give us a call today at 503.581.4554 or fill out our form. We specialize in marketing for hardscape & outdoor living contractors, as well as the home & garden services, healthcare, and professional services industries.

When it comes to generating content for your business, sometimes it is difficult to know where to begin. Victoria Taylor's guide about content marketing for a start up budget is great - but with so many potential ideas, where do you begin? We zeroed in on a content strategy you can do today. Capture “behind-the-scenes” momentsIf you're working on a project, capture “behind-the-scenes” images and videos so your followers can see the time and effort you put into your work. You can put these clips on any social media streaming service you choose.Share day-to-day contentIf you don't have enough money or time to take product images or design graphics, you can take pictures of your employees' day-to-day activities and post them on social media.It…

This post was first published on wfmchealth.org. September has arrived, which means the leaves are changing colors, the weather is getting cooler, and you and your family are transitioning back into busy school schedules. September is also National Head Lice Prevention Month, making now the perfect time to remind you how to handle head lice if there is an outbreak at your child’s school or daycare. What are head lice? Head lice are parasites that only affect humans. As the name suggests, they live on people’s heads and feed on their blood. They can’t fly or jump, but they crawl fast and breed quickly, so it’s important to take action very soon after you discover them. Head lice can cause the scalp to itch or become uncomfortable, and pedicu…

This post was first published on wfmchealth.org. September has arrived, which means the leaves are changing colors, the weather is getting cooler, and you and your family are transitioning back into busy school schedules. September is also National Head Lice Prevention Month, making now the perfect time to remind you how to handle head lice if there is an outbreak at your child’s school or daycare. What are head lice? Head lice are parasites that only affect humans. As the name suggests, they live on people’s heads and feed on their blood. They can’t fly or jump, but they crawl fast and breed quickly, so it’s important to take action very soon after you discover them. Head lice can cause the scalp to itch or become uncomfortable, and pedicu…

Having a great reputation online and in real life often means you’ll need to have excellent customer service. In this great post for HubSpot, Swetha Amaresan outlines eight major keys for great customer service. We’ll be focusing on one: learning from every interaction. Learn from every interaction. Your service team should treat every customer conversation like it’s a learning experience. When they listen and learn from your customers, they cultivate a mutually-beneficial relationship that helps them understand your target audience. Even if a call goes poorly and a customer is upset, they should think about one thing they’ve learned from the experience, so next time they can better approach the situation.Swetha Amaresan, HubSpot Read the a…

Having a great reputation online and in real life often means you'll need to have excellent customer service. In this great post for HubSpot, Swetha Amaresan outlines eight major keys for great customer service. We'll be focusing on one: learning from every interaction. Learn from every interaction.Your service team should treat every customer conversation like it's a learning experience. When they listen and learn from your customers, they cultivate a mutually-beneficial relationship that helps them understand your target audience. Even if a call goes poorly and a customer is upset, they should think about one thing they've learned from the experience, so next time they can better approach the situation. Swetha Amaresan, HubSpotRead the ar…

Along with ten marketing themes you can use in September, ThriveHive's blog post highlights some important steps you can take to make sure your Google My Business listing, or GMB, is ready for the busy season of fall. Here's our favorite: Publish Fall-themed Google My Business PostsWith Google My Business, you can post about news, events, promotions, and products. Do you have any fall-themed products you can highlight? Are you running a back to school special? Promote them on your Google My Business profile. These posts will appear whenever your listing appears on Google.ThriveHive, "Creative September Marketing Ideas"Read the article here. Kris shares a few more ideas about what you could put onto your GMB listing. https://www.youtube.com/…

This post was first published on wfmchealth.org. A fever in your baby or toddler can be scary, especially when that fever is high or your baby is only a few weeks old. Fortunately, there are plenty of steps you can take to protect your child. Causes of Infant Fevers The first thing you need to know is that a fever is not an illness. It’s a symptom that usually indicates that your baby or toddler is fighting off an illness. However, fevers develop for different reasons. For example, when an infant develops a fever, it usually means that they’ve caught a cold or another type of viral illness. Although less common, infants can develop a fever with urinary tract infections, ear infections, pneumonia and other bacterial infections. Signs of Infa…

With social media websites' ever-changing algorithms, it can be difficult to tell if your ideal customers are seeing your content. What should you do? A great option is to spend your advertising dollars to promote a wide variety of content. Business 2 Community, a respected marketing industry news site has this to say: While organic social media is a valuable strategy — especially if you have the audience to back it up — paying to promote your content can give it the extra boost it needs to reach new audiences.Social ads aren’t just for gated content campaigns, such as an ebook you’re promoting. It can also be used to promote your blog posts, infographics, and videos. Learn all you can about your audience and use that data to target audienc…

When you see big platforms like YouTube in the news for failing to act on online harassment, it might be difficult to relate to as a local business owner. Last month, Aqsa Rasool reported on a recent incident between Carlos Maza and Steven Crowder, and the need for more direct and clear policies from YouTube. YouTube’s current harassment and cyberbullying policies clearly say that any content that humiliates or hurt anyone else on purpose will be considered against the policies of the platform. Yet it decided to let go Crowder despite many arguing that he violated the rules.  - Aqsa Rasool, Digital Information WorldRead the article in its entirety here. YouTube may not be able to figure out how to deal with online harassment and negati…

When it comes to content marketing trends, you'll often see video and live streaming make the list. Your customers are seeking content they can engage with, and video is a great option! Angela Nacpil identifies five content marketing trends, and includes video. So, for marketers who have not yet toyed with the idea of putting video and live streaming under their belt, now is the perfect time. Facebook and Youtube are now considered as a marketing staple for those who want to increase their digital footprint. Why utilize Facebook? It has been a growing priority because it has the user base that will enable you to engage with your target audience. - Angela Nacpil, e27.coYou can read the full article here. When it comes to your busin…

This post was first published on wfmchealth.org. When you’re pregnant, you have to make many changes, including what you eat and drink. It’s important to be aware of what you should (or shouldn’t) be consuming during pregnancy to ensure the safety and health of your baby. Pregnant women must drink more fluids than those who are not expecting, especially during the summer when the weather is hot. It’s fair to wonder just which drinks are safe to consume during pregnancy. Obviously, you should avoid alcoholic beverages as even drinking them in moderation raises your baby’s risk for fetal alcohol syndrome. However, while some drinks are questionable, they can safely be consumed during pregnancy. You may not have to give up your favorite drinks…

When it comes to your business' online reputation, it can be tempting to write a review for your own company. Don't do it! Watch the video below to hear Tim Fahndrich explain why you should never leave a review for your own company or instruct your employees to leave reviews. If you’d like to discuss a reputation management strategy for your local business, give us a call today at 503.581.4554, or fill out the form on this page. We specialize in marketing for hardscape & outdoor living contractors, as well as the home & garden services, healthcare, and professional services industries.